Weekender Encore: Celebratory Atmosphere Welcomes Costco to Napa Valley
By Lisa Adams Walter
NAPA VALLEY, Calif. — Last week I heard that people were camping out in a line in front of the new Costco in Napa. As one of many Napans who have been waiting for more than a decade after approval of a ballot measure for the store to open, I understood the level of excitement. But camping out on cement for a full week to be the first through the door of a Costco warehouse?
To find out more about the line and to discover what was so special about this new store, I got up in the darkness at 6 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 18, and drove down the valley with my mother, Elaine Adams, a lifelong native of Napa and — like me — a longtime Costco club member. Our first stop was at the then-empty gas station to fill up.
The line of people waiting for the doors to open was long, and the ribbon-cutting wouldn’t happen until 7:30. I worried about standing in line for an hour with my active and energetic yet still octogenarian mom. As it turned out, that line was only for liquor. We found a comfortable place for her to wait with the dozen or so other shoppers who were fanned out around the front door.
As the crowd grew, the liquor line also became longer, numbering more than 100. A drone photographer was setting up to capture the event, Bay Area broadcast news stations began to arrive and representatives of the Napa Chamber of Commerce along with Napa Mayor Scott Sedgley showed up to help host the event.
The new Costco is in a developing community along the Napa River in the southern region of the city of Napa, where Kaiser Steel, Napa Pipe and other industrial operations once thrived. My mother recalled that in the 1940s and ’50s the neighborhood was named Shipyard Acres. Now the new development and the area is named RiverSound. When complete, it will include businesses, parks, open spaces, walking and bike paths, and hundreds of new homes.
The first people in line were Andy Thong from Fairfield, who had been in line for seven days, and Aaron Ly of Sacramento, who had been in the line for four days. This was Thong’s first Costco opening. Ly had been to others but said he had only had to arrive a day before at those.
Even with their long wait, Thong and Ly were pleasant, friendly and said that the mood of the group was very congenial. They said the atmosphere was “like guys just hanging out.” They had played poker until 2 a.m. the night before.
Farther down the line I met Shane and Jaison, who had flown in from Oahu specifically for this event. The Hawaiians were bourbon enthusiasts who said they were waiting for bottles that are hard to get. While they said many people in the line were collectors and resellers, they planned to enjoy what they purchased with friends.
They anticipated that some of the bottles that would be $40 on the shelf in the Napa Costco would cost $500 to $600 in Hawaii. Saying that the bourbon community is “pretty tight,” they agreed that it was a tailgate atmosphere in line and said they were already making plans to get back together with some of the new friends they had made.
Meanwhile, the excitement and crowd were continuing to build near the front doors. Barbara Pope of Napa said she is a Costco fanatic who has visited more than 100 Costco stores around the world. A former Sam’s Club member, she moved to Napa from Iowa and at first thought Costco was overpriced, but she grew to appreciate the differences between the two and the high level of quality at Costco. Like many Napans, in the past Pope shopped at the Costco nearest her current destination.
“If I was heading toward Sacramento, I would shop at Fairfield or Vacaville,” she said. “If I was going out toward to ocean, it was Novato, Petaluma or Rohnert Park.” She and her friend, Lisa Wicker, who was also awaiting the opening, visited Costco in Iceland last year, and Pope has also visited Costco warehouses in Scotland, Wales and England.
Sedgley commended Costco for its company model and said he believes there are 27,000 Costco members in the city of Napa alone.
“This is not only helping them for their family needs,” he said, “But they don’t have to burn fuel to get to another county to get to their shopping, so the community is excited from that aspect. The city is excited because of the sales tax that is generated by Costco. That’s good for the city of Napa.”
Tim Stone, Costco Napa’s general manager, said this was his first store opening. He was most recently the assistant general manager at Costco in Lodi for more than five years.
“Everyone that I have worked with here tells me that this is normal,” he said. “They tell me that this is pretty regular for each opening. We do have a system in place to help control the chaos inside.”
Stone went on to say that he thought people in Napa would be surprised to find a little bit of everything.
“We think that there are a lot of folks in Napa that don’t have a Costco membership, so we are hoping to get those folks in here to show them what we have to offer.”
He also explained that Costco operates with their members in mind, lowering gas prices that day, for example, to be competitive with the American Canyon Safeway.
“We are always going to stay competitive, and that’s one thing that our members should know,” he said. “Costco does not take advantage of our members. We want people to know that we have value here.”
With all the buzz about bourbon, I asked Stone about the wine section.
“The wine selection is insane,” he said. “I came from Lodi, a bit of wine town, and our wine selection had around 70 to 90 SKUs (stock keeping units). Here in Napa we have over 174 SKUs, almost double of what we had in Lodi. There is a lot of wine.”
In addition to the tax and convenience incentives mentioned by Sedgley, the store has created 300 new jobs. Stone said Costco is also a supporter of the community, regularly donating to local nonprofits, participating in reading programs in the schools and on a national level the Children’s Miracle Network.
“I think that the people of Napa are going to be wowed with what we have to offer,” he said. “There are so many great deals in here — the liquor selection, the food department, the bakery — all around so many fun and exciting things for our members to purchase. I know that the city of Napa has been waiting 10 to 12 years for this. I am grateful that we are here.”
Waiting in line for the store to open felt like a long time, too. Yet the positive energy, the smiling faces and the friends people ran into made for a true celebration. Then professional mixed martial arts ring announcer Bruce Buffer loudly announced the opening, and Stone cut the ribbon.
The regular Costco members excitedly pushed carts inside, while the single-file liquor line was guided in order of their arrival to one inside wall of the store. Immediately it felt like Costco — fresh, clean, neat and filled with items that shoppers might not even know exist.
First I spotted the designer sunglasses, handbags and luggage that included such brands as Gucci, Cartier, Versace, Burberry, Ferragamo and Louis Vuitton. Premium wines were there, along with high-quality jewelry, a wall of television sets, electronics and featured items to welcome shoppers to the store.
Vendors, product representatives and Costco team members were abundant inside. From a distance I saw Thong and Ly slowly moving about a third of the way through the spirits aisle, which was securely guarded to allow entry only to the liquor line. One aisle over, still before 8 a.m., I met wine steward Selman Medina, a longtime wine business professional. Certified through the Napa Valley Wine Academy, he has worked harvests and in tasting rooms for wineries such as Beringer and Domaine Carneros.
“After that I joined a distributor that dealt with Costco directly,” he said. “We were bringing in a lot of wines, and eventually I ended up staying with Costco and have been with the company for 11 years, mostly at Novato.”
He said prices on Bordeaux were inviting, declining this year after going up a bit, noting that they also have a selection of domestic wines, such as Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Far Niente and Shafer that aren’t usually seen at Costco.
“This is the Napa store, things are going to be different here,” Medina said. “We are more inclined to bring in more of the local labels.”
I had lost my mother when we entered the store. I kept an eye out for her while casually exploring the aisles and noticing discounted brands such as Barefoot Dreams robes and wraps and Hoka athletic shoes along with the typical “Costco run” items — household paper goods, rotisserie chickens, health and beauty products, and cleaning supplies.
The food department was filled with gourmet goods, and samples of grilled ribeye steak, warm chocolate croissants, Rustic Bakery goods, Point Reyes Cheese and fresh ravioli were on offer. Luxury items such as saunas, temperature-controlled wine cellars, pinball machines, crystal wineglasses and an at-home ice bath caught my attention.
Finally, I spotted my mom contentedly cruising down a main aisle toward the checkout. We reunited near the floral display, where Donna Brown, regional manager for Kendal Floral, offered me a freshly cut red rose. Brown explained that Kendal Floral is based in Carlsbad, yet their floral farms are in Colombia.
“We have about 54 farms there,” she said, “and the minute the flowers are cut, they are at Costco within 72 hours, which is remarkable.”
Thong and Ly were by now heading toward the checkout, saying they were pleased with the treasures they had secured. While he doesn’t resell, Thong snagged a $2,399 single 750ml bottle of Eagle Rare 20 Year Bourbon from Kentucky, which resells in the $4,500 to $10,000 range, as well as a 750ml bottle of $1,999.99 Buffalo Trace Old Fashioned Cooper bourbon that, depending upon the year made, resells in the range of $5,000 to $209,999 for a 1982. They said it had been worth the wait, and most Napans would agree.
Costco Napa, Store No. 1679 is located at 280 RiverSound Way in Napa. Open daily, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
If today’s story captured your interest, explore these related articles:
More Than 20 Years Later, Napans Reflect on 9/11
With Napa Roots, Aeternum Vocal Choir to Premiere
Excitement Builds for Napa Fair Next Week
Filmmakers Bring Maui Hero to St. Helena for Premiere
Talented Napa Teens Train at “Camp Vocal”
Malfatti: Napa’s Legendary Dumpling
Lisa Adams Walter is a writer, storyteller, editor and publicist who has been published in media outlets locally and nationally. A California wine country native, she brings intimate insight to an array of wine, food, arts, entertainment, lifestyle and travel stories.
Thank you for the delightful narration. I’ve not been there yet.
Being allergic to lines, I waited until Tuesday to go to the long awaited Napa Costco. Huge store. The wine section is mind boggling. The layout is similar to Santa Rosa, but enough different that you have to hunt a bit to find familiar items. It took me about 45 minutes to get there from Angwin. I was in and out in 27 minutes. By the way, there is plenty of parking, and that whole development, with the parks and dog park, is going to be great.